


Days at the Park

by Coryn



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 07:46:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10532031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coryn/pseuds/Coryn
Summary: Best friends Nino and Mari are one of my favorite things. This takes place in the past, in whatever universe you'd like it to take place in.





	

Marinette swung on the swingset, off in her own world while admiring the clouds in the sky. Her mom had been taking her to this same park for the last couple weeks, and it had only taken her a day or two to get used to how things worked. Everything had its own order and fell into place like clockwork. She remembered to stay away from the tall slide, since the blonde girl and her minions made everyone who tried to use it miserable. In fact, none of the girls who played at the park seemed to be interested in the same things that Mari enjoyed, so she usually avoided them. She always said "hi" to the redhead who played by himself in the sand, creating castles with no true form while staring forlornly at the dark haired girl who always seemed so full of energy.

The redhead always wished he could work up the courage to ask Mari to play with him, but she seemed to have her own little world that he didn't want to intrude on. He always wondered what would happen if he did - if she'd look at him the same way he looked at the blonde girl when she stomped on his castles. He didn't want to upset her world, so he just said "hi" back, and then returned to his sand kingdom. But perhaps, after the first time he saw her, there had been a new inhabitant of his little castle - a pretty princess to rescue; though only the clouds and grass and wind knew what had changed in his heart that day.

Life was like clockwork. Nino would show up soon, and then he and Mari would play super heroes. Just like they did every day. Clockwork.

Marinette's swing was suddenly jerked to the side, and she scrambled to regain her hold on the chain as she was sent tumbling into the sand. Familiar laughter echoed from behind her as she brushed sand off her hands and knees, tears filling her eyes as she felt the familiar stinging of scrapes. She turned around, still sitting in the sand, to see two blonde children - the infamous bully, and a boy with lovely green eyes who looked very embarrassed over what his friend had just done.

"Now we can swing on the swings. I told you she didn't mind." The girl pushed the swing towards the green-eyed boy, who ignored her.

"I think you hurt her, Chloe." He didn't take the swing, but instead took a step towards Marinette, who flinched away from him, the tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"Daddy says that sometimes poor people don't know what's best for them." Chloe pushed the swing towards him again, and he yet again ignored her.

Marinette felt a hand on her shoulder, the touch shocking her enough for her tears to stop. She looked up to see the determined face of her best friend, Nino. "Are you okay?" he asked, frowning. She nodded.

The green-eyed boy had walked all the way up to Marinette before she and Nino noticed him. Mari's eyes were wide, terrified that he would be like Chloe's other minions. She shied against Nino's leg for comfort and protection. "I'm sorry," the green-eyed boy said, holding a hand out to help her stand up. He looked as scared as she did, worried that he would break her if he touched her. She tentatively reached her hand out, meeting his and letting him pull her to her feet.

"Adrien!" Chloe shrieked, running over to him and grabbing his hand. She yanked Adrien away from Mari and Nino, and his resistance got him nowhere so he gave in and allowed the blonde girl to drag him back to her slide. Nino navigated Marinette over to one side of the playground, a calm sort of anger stirring inside him.

Mari was shaking a little after everything, but it only took her a minute to bounce back, her fear replaced by a righteous anger. "Nino," she said, her eyes set determinedly on the group of popular kids over by the slide, "we have to get that boy back."

"You're right, Mari. But you need to stay here. I'm not going to let them hurt you again."

"No! Nino, we're super heroes, and more importantly, we're partners. We'll do it together."

Nino chuckled, patting Marinette's head and causing her focus to waver, surprised blue eyes staring up at him. He could see the determination still lingered, and knew he couldn't win this fight. "Let's go, then, Fashion Princess."

"You better be right behind me, DJ Bubbles," Mari said, rushing off before Nino.

The two of them ran to the slide, their courage fortified by their imaginations. Mari and Nino may be stoppable, but Fashion Princess and DJ Bubbles were a duo that could beat any villain, bad guy, or playground bully.

"Unhand the prince!" Mari shouted at Chloe, running towards her with full force. The blonde shrieked and darted to the side, leaving a shocked Adrien unguarded. Marinette grabbed one of his hands, Nino grabbed the other a moment later, and then ran as fast as they could, laughing and giggling with the shocked green-eyed boy between them.

When they were at the other side of the playground they finally stopped, Marinette panting and out of breath, Nino composed and laughing over the success of their mission. "I think that's the first time we had to save a 'prince'," he laughed.

"Prince Adrien," Mari panted, "will you join our super hero partnership?"

"If he joins it'll be a group or a squad, Mari. So much for partners," Nino said with a hint of envy. None of them picked up on it, though.

"He can join! We need more super heroes to fight the bad guys, DJ Bubbles," Mari pouted. She turned to the green-eyed boy. "So, Prince Adrien, what will your super hero name be?"

"I-I'm not a prince," Adrien protested, bewildered at the escapades he'd just been dragged into. It took him a minute to catch up.

"Y-yes y-you are," Mari said. Nino nodded in agreement. He knew how Marinette could be in these situations. She seemed to be getting quite nervous in front of the Prince's green eyes. Even if the dark-haired girl didn't know what was happening, Nino could see the admiration for the other boy as clear as day. She had never called Nino a prince before, and since she was Fashion Princess, any prince would be more of a partner to her than a DJ.

"What do you like to do?" Nino cut in. "You have to find your superhero name based on something you like, or what your powers are, or what your costume looks like. I'm DJ Bubbles because I like music, and because I have bubble powers. Mari is Fashion Princess because she is good at fashion and her powers involve fashion. And she's a princess because she's a girl."

"Well," Adrien considered. "I really like fencing, and cats, and video games. Does that help?"

"That's a good-" Nino began.

"Perfect!" Marinette exclaimed. She did an excited wiggle and twirled around, almost falling over but regaining her balance at the last second. "You, my dear prince, will be Prince Electro-cat!"

"Prince Electro-cat?" Adrien and Nino said in unison, both with shocked expressions.

"Yes! He can be like a cat, and always land on his feet, so he can be helpful if we have to jump from high places. He could even carry one of us! And he can use video game electricity to shock enemies and of course he's a prince cause he's so pretty like one, and he'll be really helpful for our team!"

"That works for me," Nino said, giving Marinette a wistful smile. She was so adorable when she was excited, and he wasn't going to ruin her fun. Even if he wasn't going to be her prince.

"O-okay, I'll be Prince Electro-cat. Maybe just Electro-cat for short?" he asked timidly.

"Good point, it's too much to yell 'Prince Electro-cat' when we're about to start a battle, so it can be shorter when we are in a hurry," Marinette agreed. "But if we aren't in a hurry, you have to put the 'Prince' first."

The boys nodded. She had good logic. When Marinette's expression switched to one of angry determination Adrien jumped, looking to see what she was focused on but seeing only an empty area of park with a couple trees.

"Prince Electro-cat, DJ Bubbles," Mari said, "our next mission is to defeat the evil Dog Catcher. He's kidnapped DJ's puppy and we have to rescue her."

Adrien panicked, looking around for a dog before realizing that this was what it was like to play with normal kids, and not just Chloe. A pure, sunshine-filled smile lit up his face. He had friends.

"Where do we go to find the Dog Catcher, Fashion Princess?" Nino asked, his expression matching Mari's.

The trio played around together until late in the afternoon when their parents fetched them to go off to their separate lives, leaving their miraculous world in the park.

It worked like clockwork for Mari and Nino. It always had and always would. Adrien wished he could return to the park and play with the determined boy and the dark-haired girl, but Chloe never invited him to come with her after that, and the memory of three imaginary super heroes faded into the past. Perhaps there was one gear missing from the perfect clock, but it worked well enough without him, and Adrien once again forgot what it was like to have real friends, until one day, years later, he stepped into a classroom.

"This is your seat, Adrikins. I saved it for you. Right in front of me!" Chloe gushed. As Adrien's green eyes scanned the classroom, they met a pair of light brown ones. A feeling of deja vu shook him out of his comfort zone, but he moved on, sure it was nothing. He was sure he'd never seen the bespectacled boy in the blue shirt before in his life.

But it sure was nice to be in school, surrounded by teenagers his own age. It was like being a kid again; like playing at the park.

**Author's Note:**

> "Fashion Princess uses ribbons and thread to snare bad guys!" Mari shouted excitedly, twirling in the sand.
> 
> "That's lame, DJ Bubbles can use bubbles to trap them, and then music to disable their super powers!" Nino protested, accenting his point as he blew a string of bubbles from the plastic wand.
> 
> "Bad guys don't have super powers, they just have evil plots! Fashion Princess is way cooler," Mari said, satisfied with her logic.


End file.
